100th day of school kicks off relevant learning

Students ran 100-second relays and drummed 100 beats per minute at Minden Elementary on Thursday in celebration of the 100th day of school.

“One-hundred days is a big deal,” said Principal Crespin Esquivel.

The students participated in rotation stations, each with a specific task that had to do with 100.

During math, they made 10 frames and skip counted by 10 to reach 100, in P.E. they did different exercises, and dances.

Esquivel said what started out as a professional development challenge on “how to make learning fun,” turned into a new school tradition.

“It was project base learning and how to make learning fun and relevant,” he said. “One-hundred days of school was coming, and we had the idea to do something fun out of it.”

Esquivel said each station not only was in part of the theme but taught a lesson that was relevant to life use.

“In music, they learned how math is used in creating beats or in physical education how that challenges you and improves your exercise, and things like that,” he said.

Fourth-grader Savannah Koontz wore a shirt that said, “100 days smarter,” while her 6-year-old brother had on one that said, “I tackled 100 days of school.”

“I enjoyed playing all the games and being able to dress up and have fun,” said Savannah.

Other students dressed as 100-year-olds, complete with scarfs and glasses.

“I am really proud of the teachers for their hard work and making all of it happen,” said Esquivel. “It’s really them that put in the time and creativity to come up with such a fun event for our students and to get the kids looking at relevancy.”

Esquivel said the goal is to make relevance a part of Minden Elementary School moving forward.

“We’re looking at how to make this part of teaching here and not just a one day thing,” he said. “Learning should be fun and relevant to our lives and that’s what we want for our students.”